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You put a lot of effort into your workouts, always looking to perform better and reach your goals. Chances are you’ve given more thought to your pre-workout meal than your post-workout meal. However, consuming the right nutrients after you exercise is just as important as what you eat before. Below, is a detailed guide to optimal nutrition after workouts.

Eating After a Workout Is Important

To understand how the right foods can help you after exercise, it’s important to understand how your body is affected by physical activity. When you’re working out, your muscles use up their glycogen stores for fuel. This results in your muscles being partially depleted of glycogen. Some of the proteins in your muscles also get broken down and damaged.

After your workout, your body tries to rebuild its glycogen stores and repair and regrow those muscle proteins. Eating the right nutrients soon after you exercise can help your body get this done faster. It is particularly important to eat carbs and protein after your workout. Doing this helps your body:

Decrease muscle protein breakdown.

Increase muscle protein synthesis (growth).

Restore glycogen stores.

Enhance recovery

BOTTOM LINE: Getting in the right nutrients after exercise can help you rebuild your muscle proteins and glycogen stores. It also helps stimulate growth of new muscle.

Protein, Carbs and Fat

Protein Helps Repair and Build Muscle

These powerful macronutrients are involved in your body’s post-workout recovery process. As explained above, exercise triggers the breakdown of muscle protein. The rate at which this happens depends on the exercise and your level of training, but even well-trained athletes experience muscle protein breakdown. Consuming an adequate amount of protein after a workout gives your body the amino acids it needs to repair and rebuild these proteins. It also gives you the building blocks required to build new muscle tissue.

It is recommended that you consume 0.14–0.23 grams of protein per pound of body weight (0.3–0.5 grams/kg) very soon after a workout. Studies have shown that ingesting 20–40 grams of protein seems to maximize the body’s ability to recover after exercise.

Carbs Help With Recovery

Your body’s glycogen stores are used as fuel during exercise, and consuming carbs after your workout helps replenish them. The rate at which your glycogen stores are used depends on the activity. For example, endurance sports cause your body to use more glycogen than resistance training. For this reason, if you participate in endurance sports (running, swimming, etc.), you might need to consume more carbs than a bodybuilder.

Consuming 0.5–0.7 grams of carbs per pound (1.1–1.5 grams/kg) of body weight within 30 minutes after training results in proper glycogen re-synthesis. Furthermore, insulin secretion, which promotes glycogen synthesis, is better stimulated when carbs and protein are consumed at the same time. Therefore, consuming both carbs and protein after exercise can maximize protein and glycogen synthesis. Try consuming the two in a ratio of 3:1 (carbs to protein). For example, 40 grams of protein and 120 grams of carbs.

Eating plenty of carbs to rebuild glycogen stores is most important for people who exercise often, such as twice in the same day. If you have 1 or 2 days to rest between workouts then this becomes less important.

Fat Is Not That Bad

Many people think that eating fat after a workout slows down digestion and inhibits the absorption of nutrients. While fat may slow down the absorption of your post-workout meal, it will not reduce its benefits. For example, a study showed that whole milk was more effective at promoting muscle growth after a workout than skim milk. Moreover, another study showed that even when ingesting a high-fat meal (45% energy from fat) after working out, muscle glycogen synthesis was not affected.

It might be a good idea to limit the amount of fat you eat after exercise, but having some fat in your post-workout meal will not affect your recovery.

BOTTOM LINE: A post-workout meal with both protein and carbs will enhance glycogen storage and muscle protein synthesis. Consuming a ratio of 3:1 (carbs to protein) is a practical way to achieve this.

The Timing of Your Post-Workout Meal Matters

Your body’s ability to rebuild glycogen and protein is enhanced after you exercise. For this reason, it is recommended that you consume a combination of carbs and protein as soon as possible after exercising. Although the timing does not need to be exact, many experts recommend eating your post-workout meal within 45 minutes. In fact, it’s believed that the delay of carb consumption by as little as two hours after a workout may lead to as much as 50% lower rates of glycogen synthesis. However, if you consumed a meal before exercising, it’s likely that the benefits from that meal still apply after training.

BOTTOM LINE: Eat your post-workout meal within 45 minutes of exercising. However, you can extend this period a little longer, depending on the timing of your pre-workout meal.

Foods to Eat After You Workout

The primary goal of your post-workout meal is to supply your body with the right nutrients for adequate recovery and to maximize the benefits of your workout. Choosing easily digested foods will promote faster nutrient absorption. The following lists contain examples of simple and easily digested foods:

Carbs:

Sweet potatoes

Chocolate milk

Quinoa

Fruits (pineapple, berries, banana, kiwi)

Rice cakes

Rice

Oatmeal

Potatoes

Pasta

Dark, leafy green vegetables

Protein:

Animal- or plant-based protein powder

Eggs

Greek yogurt

Cottage cheese

Salmon

Chicken

Protein bar

Tuna

Fats:

Avocado

Nuts

Nut butters

Trail mix (dried fruits and nuts)

Sample Post-Workout Meals

Combinations of the foods listed above can create great meals that provide you with all the nutrients you need after exercise. Here are a few examples of quick and easy meals to eat after your workout:

Grilled chicken with roasted vegetables

Egg omelet with avocado spread on toast

Salmon with sweet potato

Tuna salad sandwich on whole grain bread

Tuna and crackers

Oatmeal, whey protein, banana and almonds

Cottage cheese and fruits

Pita and hummus

Rice crackers and peanut butter

Whole grain toast and almond butter

Cereal and skim milk

Greek yogurt, berries and granola

Protein shake and banana

Quinoa bowl with berries and pecans

Multi-grain bread and raw peanuts

Make Sure to Drink Plenty of Water

It is important to drink plenty of water before and after your workout. When you are properly hydrated, this ensures the optimal internal environment for your body to maximize results. During exercise, you lose water and electrolytes through sweat. Replenishing these after a workout can help with recovery and performance.

It’s especially important to replenish fluids if your next exercise session is within 12 hours. Depending on the intensity of your workout, water or an electrolyte drink is recommended to replenish fluid losses.

BOTTOM LINE: It is important to get water and electrolytes after exercise to replace what was lost during your workout.

Putting It All Together

Consuming a proper amount of carbs and protein after exercise is essential. It will stimulate muscle protein synthesis, improve recovery and enhance performance during your next workout. If you’re not able to eat within 45 minutes of working out, it’s important to not go much longer than 2 hours before eating a meal. Finally, replenishing lost water and electrolytes can complete the picture and help you maximize the benefits of your workout.

Adapted from: Arlene Semeco, MS, RD

Nutrition Tip of the Day

Chill out! Frozen foods, particularly fruits and veggies, can be just as nutritious as fresh produce and, in some cases, they may be even better.

Water is one of the body’s most essential nutrients. People may survive six weeks without any food, but they couldn’t live more than a week or so without water. That’s because water is the cornerstone for all body functions. It’s the most abundant substance in the body, averaging 60 percent of body weight. It helps keep body temperature constant at around 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, and it transports nutrients and oxygen to all cells and carries waste products away. Water helps maintain blood volume, and it helps lubricate joints and body tissues such as those in the mouth, eyes and nose. And, water is truly a liquid asset for a healthy weight — it’s sugar-free, caffeine-free and calorie-free.

How Much Water Do Kids Need?

The daily amount of water that a child needs depends on factors such as age, weight and gender. Air temperature, humidity, activity level and a person’s overall health affect daily water requirements, too. The chart below can help you identify about how many cups of water your child or teen needs each day. These recommendations are set for generally healthy kids living in temperate climates; therefore, they might not be perfect for your child or teen.

The amount of water that your child or teen needs each day might seem like a lot, but keep in mind that the recommendations in the chart are for total water, which includes water from all sources: drinking water, other beverages and food. Notice that fruits and vegetables have a much higher water content than other solid foods. This high water content helps keep the calorie level of fruits and vegetables low while their nutrient level remains high — another perfectly great reason for kids to eat more from these food groups.

So how do you apply total water recommendations to your kid’s day? As a rule of thumb, to get enough water, your child or teen should drink at least six to eight cups of water a day and eat the recommended number of servings of fruits and vegetables every day. Also, pay special attention to your child’s or teen’s water consumption when they are physically active. Before, during and after any physical activity, kids need to drink plenty of water, especially in hot weather. The goal is to drink a half cup to two cups of water every 15 to 20 minutes while exercising.

Kids Total Daily Beverage and Drinking Water Requirements

Age Range

Gender

Total Water (Cups/Day)

4 to 8 years

Girls and Boys

5

9 to 13 years

Girls

7

Boys

8

14 to 18 years

Girls

8

Boys

11

Data are from Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) Tables. Recommended Daily Allowance and Adequate Intake Values: Total Water and Macronutrients.

Adapted from: Mary Mullen, MS, RD; Jo Ellen Shield, MED RD LD

Tip of the Day

Variety is key! Vary your protein food choices. Eat a variety of foods from the Protein Foods Group each week. Experiment with main dishes made with beans, peas, nuts, soy, seafood, or lean meats.

Behavioral Health Nutrition: #BHNstudents

Emotional eating is consuming food to mask or cope with emotions. Some eat when they are sad, depressed, stressed or anxious. Others eat because they are bored, lonely, or trying to fill a void. We even emotionally eat to celebrate personal successes, exciting news, or as a reward. We all emotionally eat from time to […]